Live In The Question

What I miss most about not being surrounded by my books is their familiarity -- they were here, there and everywhere in my flat at 810 Hampshire Street, stacked upright, sideways, backwards, some sorted by theme or genre, some by size.

They occupied a half dozen of those Ikea bookshelves that I'd assembled myself, or sometimes with the help of my kids.

Every now and again, I would be seized by a memory of something I'd read in a book many years before. I'd seek it out, sometimes unsuccessfully, but that only made the finding of some of them more special.

Lately, partly because of what has become my main role in life, I've been remembering Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet." The advice younger people seek from me is in the professional, creative and personal realms.

Of course those realms are interconnected -- the romance of writing is a familiar feeling, as is the writing of romance. And inside each young journalist is a noble spirit. They are seeking to document the stories of the people and places around them mostly in a quest to make the world a better place.

This is most starkly apparent to me in the investigative journalists -- the crustiest and most cynical of the lot, on the surface. Sometimes they seem to be battling monsters of their own creation, but that never is entirely true. Neither are they the victims of what may have been done to them in the past.

And their anger at injustice is a special quality we all need to recognize and celebrate. We need them to provide a check on the misuse of power that would otherwise make this world a far worse place.

It's funny. The best of them are so modest, shy almost, thoughtful and kind in nature. That I love them is my condition.

I love being a part of their quest, however minor a role I can play. And in many of the moments I am advising them, Rilke's words swim through my brain like a song, with the rhythms of waves and the flow of the tides. 

• “Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart...live in the question.” 
• “Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
• "If there is anything unhealthy in your reactions, just bear in mind that sickness is the means by which an organism frees itself from what is alien; so one must simply help it to be sick, to have its whole sickness and to break out with it, since that is the way it gets better.” 
• “[A]t bottom, and just in the deepest and most important things, we are unutterably alone, and for one person to be able to advise or even help another, a lot must happen, a lot must go well, a whole constellation of things must come right in order once to succeed.”

If only I could be this wise.

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Top News: We welcomed Baby Boy Weir yesterday afternoon. He weighs in at 8 lb. 4 oz. & 19.5 inches in length! Mom, Dad, big sister (2) and the little guy are all fine.

In other news:

* Mutated virus may reinfect people already stricken once with covid-19, sparking debate  (WashPo)

* Biden Seizes on Weak Job Gains to Call for Quick Stimulus Action (NYT)

* Tens of thousands protest Myanmar coup despite internet ban (Reuters) 

* AP analysis: Federal executions likely a COVID superspreader event (AP)

* Muddled Intelligence Hampered Response to Capitol Riot (NYT)

* It’s encouraging that reducing child poverty is now a bipartisan aspiration (WashPo)

* Penguins Spared After Mammoth Iceberg Splits Into Smaller Pieces (WSJ)

* Biden Reverses Trump Terrorist Designation for Houthis in Yemen -- Critics of the Trump administration action said the penalties would punish the millions of starving people in Yemen more than the Houthi rebels. (NYT)

* Slaying of FBI agents in Florida raises questions about tactics, intelligence (WashPo)

* Biden Doesn't Think $15 Federal Minimum Wage Hike Will Survive COVID-19 Relief Bill (NPR)

* Arrested in Capitol Riot: Organized Militants and a Horde of Radicals -- Yes, there were Proud Boys, QAnon zealots and military veterans. But most of those arrested so far were united largely by a belief that the election was stolen, a New York Times analysis found. (NYT)

* Biden team exploring how U.S. might rejoin Iran nuclear deal (WashPo)

* Biden Bars Trump From Receiving Intelligence Briefings, Citing ‘Erratic Behavior’ (NYT)

* The auto industry is pouring resources into electric vehicles. There may be bumps ahead. (WashPo)

* Package Thief Makes Off With Entire Front Porch (The Onion)

***

Dreaming My Dreams

Martina McBride

Written by Allen Reynolds

I hope that I won't be that wrong anymore.
Maybe I've learned this time.
I hope that I find what I'm reachin' for.
The way that it is in my mind.

Some day I'll get over you.
I'll live to see it all through.
But I'll always miss.
Dreamin' my dreams with you.

I won't let it change me, not if I can.
I'd rather believe in love.
And give it away, as much as I can.
To those that I'm fondest of.

Some day I'll get over you.
And I'll live to see it all through.
But I'll always miss.
Dreamin' my dreams with you.

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